If you have solar PV panels, or are planning to install them, then using home batteries to store electricity you’ve generated will help you to maximise the amount of renewable energy you use. Storing your solar energy will reduce how much electricity you use from the grid, and cut your energy bills.
A solar battery allows you to store electricity produced by your solar panels and use it later or, in some cases, sell it back to the grid to make a few quid – but they're not cheap. Read on to see if it's worth getting a solar storage battery for your home... This is the first incarnation of this guide.
Another battery might suit your home and individual energy needs better. If you've got rooftop solar panels, they might produce more energy than you can use. Your utility might pay you for that energy via net metering, but you can also use it to charge a battery to use later.
This should reduce your energy bills – and your carbon footprint. For example, if you're not at home during the day to use the energy your solar panels are generating, having a battery will enable you to store (and later use) energy from your solar panels. A solar battery means you can take advantage of cheaper electricity.
If you get a battery installed at the same time as your solar panels, it’ll likely be a DC-coupled model, whereas all retrofitted batteries are AC-coupled. They’re both able to charge from and discharge to the grid, so either way, you may be able to access the top solar export tariffs. 5. Emergency Power Supply (EPS)
Solar batteries are designed to work with solar panel systems. It's a device that stores the electricity you generate (but don't use immediately) from your solar panels, allowing you to then use that electricity later in the day.